“We were out there havin' fun, in the warm California sun.”

April 20, 2015

“We were out there havin' fun,

 in the warm California sun.”

St. Vincent

Florence and the Machine

Ryan Adams

The final day of the Coachella Arts and Music Festival is always sort of bittersweet, I always hate for the experience to end, yet at the same time by the end of it all, I am fairly exhausted and have had my fill. I tend to be more discriminating by day three, selecting bands that I really want to see and staying for their entire sets rather than the jumping around from stage to stage that I tend to do earlier in the festival.

Belle & Sebastian

I had some excellent bands that I chose to watch that included Belle & Sebastian, Ryan Adams, Father John Misty, St.Vincent, Florence and the Machine and Fitz and the Tantrums. Drake was the headliner, but I only watched a few minutes of his set before calling it a weekend.

Ryan Adams

The Scottish band Belle & Sebastian was fairly popular back in the 90s and were always critical darlings, but they suffered a few member changes and sort of disappeared during much of the 2000s, but seem to be intent on making a comeback and started last year by touring heavily and appearing at various festivals. Their Coachella set was great, the smallish crowd was really in to the band and many were rewarded when the band invited anyone who wanted up on stage during their encore.

St. Vincent

One of my favorite performances of the weekend was Ryan Adams, who somehow I had never seen live before. Adams is a gifted and prolific singer/songwriter and he put on a great set that covered all aspects of his phenomenal career, closing with a magnetic performance of “Oh, My Sweet Carolina”.

Florence and the Machine

The sunset on the final evening of Coachella was pretty spectacular as well, and once the darkness had set in, sets from the likes of Father John Misty, Florence and the Machine and Fitz and the Tantrums lit up the festival. It was a nice evening as all of these bands delivered solid sets. St. Vincent also played and her set was just electric. I am not a huge fan of her music, but her eclectic live performance may have been the most unique and interesting of the weekend.

 

Father John Misty

It was another enjoyable festival, I had a good time with George, Jalak and Lee and while I missed having Kathy there, I am glad to have had the opportunity to attend. Leaving Palm Springs, which is so beautiful is always difficult, but thankfully I had a couple of additional days in California.

Fitz & The Tantrums